Courland Governorate

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Kurzemes guberņa
Курля́ндская губерния
Kurländisches Gouvernement
Courland Governorate

Governorate of the Russian Empire

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1795 – 1915

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Coat of arms

Courland Governorate, Livonia Governorate, Estonia Governorate of the Russian Empire

Capital

Jelgava

History

- Partition of Poland

March 28, 1795

- German occupation

1915

- Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

1918

The Governorate of Courland, also known as the Province of Courland^[1], Governorate of Kurland^[2] (Latvian: Kurzemes guberņa; Russian: Курля́ндская губерния), and Government of Courland (German: Kurländisches Gouvernement), was one of the Baltic provinces or governorates of the Russian Empire, now part of the Republic of Latvia.

The governorate was created in 1795 out of the territory of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia that was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the province of Courland with its capital at Jelgava (called Mitau at the time), following the third partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The governorate was bounded in north by the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga and the Governorate of Livonia; west by the Baltic Sea; south by the Vilna Governorate and Prussia and east by the Vitebsk Governorate and Minsk Governorate. The population in 1846 was estimated at 553,300.^[1]

It ceased to exist during the World War I after the German Empire took control of the region in 1915. Russia surrendered the territory by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918.